Work Text:
“Wake up,” Sanji heard someone say. They were touching his shoulder, his face, shaking him, “This is no time to sleep. Sanji, please, you have to wake up!”
Slowly, much slower than he would have liked, Sanji opened his eyes, and only then did he realize he must have closed them at some point.
Zoro was staring at him, face pale and drawn, with a cut on his head freely bleeding. A relieved smile spread across his face as their eyes met.
“You’re bleeding,” Sanji slurred out, head lolling to the side as he reached out and touched the cut on his head.
Zoro laughed, “You’re one to talk.”
He didn’t know what that was supposed to mean.
His eyelids felt impossibly heavy, and they started to flutter shut.
“Hey, no, no, stay awake,” Zoro shook his shoulder again. “I don’t know much about head wounds, but I know you’re not supposed to sleep.”
“Fuck you,” he said. Sleep seemed like such a good idea, why was Zoro keeping him from it? “Don’t tell me what to do.”
His grip on his shoulder tightened, “Fine. Go to sleep then. If you’re too much of a bastard to stay awake.”
Sanji growled and forced his protesting eyelids open. “Fuck you,” he said again, because it was worth repeating.
There was dust and rubble everywhere, which was odd because he could have sworn he’d been in a building just a few seconds ago. Explosions were going off somewhere in the distance, but it was hard to hear them over the persistent ringing in his ears.
“Can you stand?” Zoro asked.
What a dumb question. He was a grown ass man, of course he could stand. But when he tried to do so, the world suddenly tilted, and the next thing he knew he was in Zoro’s arms.
“Sanji?” Zoro’s voice was right in his ear, and he had a death grip on his arms, “Stay with me, Sanji.”
Shit, fuck. Zoro was using his name. He must be dying.
“You’re not dying.” Zoro said with determination, so either he was reading his mind or he’d said it out loud, and Sanji didn’t know which was worse. “Not if I can help it.”
He scooped him up in his arms bridal style and took off in a run.
“I can walk,” he protested weakly as his head rolled over onto Zoro’s shoulder.
“Yeah, because you did so well with standing,” Zoro said without breaking his pace, “Just sit tight and stay awake. I’ll get you to Chopper soon.”
Zoro smelled like steel and blood and burning. Or maybe the burning was coming from everything else, as it seemed like the whole world around them was on fire.
And maybe the blood was coming from him, he realized when he looked down and saw his shirt was covered with the red sticky stuff.
“Shit,” he groaned, “I am dying.”
“No,” Zoro insisted, “You’re not. Not today.”
“I just got this shirt,” he said as he picked at it.
“I’ll get you a new fucking shirt,” he growled, “Just stay with me.”
“Sleepy,” he sighed and closed his eyes, turning his head into Zoro’s shoulder, “I wanna sleep.”
“No,” he jostled him until his eyes snapped open, “Don’t sleep. Stay awake. Talk to me.”
“’Bout what?”
“I don’t know. Bitch to me about something. Tell me everything you hate about me.”
“Your hair is so fucking stupid,” he said immediately, running his fingers through it, “And it’s soft. You never fucking shower, how is it so soft?”
“Yeah okay.” An explosion went off to their left. Zoro paused and turned right, “My hair’s too soft. What else?”
“You never fucking bathe,” he repeated. “Fishing Luffy and Chopper out of the ocean doesn’t count as bathing, you know. You’re rude to the girls, you’re rude to everyone really.”
Zoro scoffed, “You’re one to talk about being rude to everyone.”
“I have manners and can use them if I need to.” His whole body was feeling tingly. Was he in pain? He couldn’t tell. He flexed his fingers, grateful that they moved, but the tingle spread, “You have no manners, and you hate my food.”
“I don’t hate your food.”
“Well, you never tell me you like my food, so how can I know?”
“I eat it all, don’t I?”
“You’d eat fucking dirt if it was served to you.”
“Okay, I’ll tell you I like your food more, promise.” His voice was growing more panicked, and Sanji wondered how hurt he was, “Just stay awake.”
“Yeah,” his eyes started drifting closed again.
“Hey,” Zoro shook him again, “I mean it. Stay awake.”
“I’m awake,” he said sleepily.
“C’mon, what else? What else do you hate about me?”
“I don’t hate you.” It was getting harder to keep his eyes open, and he needed Zoro to know that.
“Then, tell me something else,” he said almost frantically. ”Tell me what you’re making for dinner.”
“Bluefin tuna,” he said as his eyes drooped. They’d come across a whole school earlier, and he was looking forward to preparing them, “Gonna grill some and use the rest for sashimi.”
“Great. I love sashimi.”
“I know,” he sighed. He was so tired, why was he awake again? Right, because Zoro wanted him to be.
“Sounds great, can’t wait.”
“Yeah,” his eyes drifted shut.
“Sanji?”
He just needed to rest his eyes for a bit.
“Sanji!”
He woke up in the infirmary covered head to toe in bandages. The sun was just starting to rise, or maybe set, and a beam of light peeking through the porthole hit his eyes.
He was surprised to find Zoro in a chair next to the bed, his head resting on the bed and his hand clutching Sanji’s, fast asleep.
Sanji’s entire body throbbed in pain, his head being the worst. It felt like someone was trying to hammer their way out of his skull.
He sat up and groaned. Zoro shot up immediately, glancing around the room until his eye fell on Sanji and saw that he was awake.
A smile spread across his face, and he squeezed his hand, “Finally awake, dartbrow?”
“Yeah,” Sanji sighed and relaxed. If Zoro was back to insults, he must be in the clear, “But my head is killing me.”
“Oh, here,” Zoro grabbed a cup of something off the bedside table and handed it to him, “Chopper said to drink that once you woke up.”
Sanji chugged it down, winced at the taste, but drank it dutifully. His headache subsided slightly, and he started to feel drowsy.
“Sleepy,” he muttered into his pillow, trying his best to keep his eyes open.
“That’s okay,” Zoro was still smiling at him, his thumb tracing patterns into Sanji’s hand, “Get some rest.”
So Sanji did.